Archived press release

MPs urged to not to forget planes in Climate Change Bill

24 October 2008

Friends of the Earth called on the Government to strengthen the Climate Change Bill ahead of a crucial vote in Parliament next Tuesday (28 October 2008). The environmental charity said that if Ministers failed to act it was relying on MPs to close a loophole that leaves international aviation and shipping emissions out of the Bill.

MPs and the Government have come under huge pressure from the public to strengthen the Climate Change Bill. Since Friends of the Earth launched its campaign - The Big Ask - just three years ago, more than 200,000 people have emailed, written to or visited their MP to ask them to support a strong law.

56 backbench Labour MPs tabled an amendment to the Bill on Thursday 23 October which, if passed by the Commons, would ensure emissions from aviation and shipping are counted as part of the overall target - enough to cause a defeat if the issue comes to a vote.

The Government was expected to table its own amendment aimed at including all emissions in the Bill on Thursday but has failed to do so. It is believed that objections from the Department of Transport may have delayed the move.

The UK's share of international shipping and aviation emissions accounted for 7.6 per cent of the UK's total carbon dioxide emissions in 2006.

MPs will also vote on an amendment to the Bill, tabled by the Government last week, which would raise the target for cutting greenhouse gases from 60 per cent to 80 per cent by 2050. This change has been welcomed by all parties and so the majority of MPs are expected to vote for it.

Friends of the Earth is also calling on the Government to ensure the process of calculating the UK's climate budgets is completely transparent and that the vast majority of the emissions reductions are made in the UK.

Thom Yorke, Radiohead front man and supporter of The Big Ask, said:

"After three years of campaigning we are on the verge of getting the world's first climate change law. This is an amazing achievement but there is one very large elephant in the room - it doesn't cover pollution from ships or planes."

"We need the strongest possible law that covers all the UK's emissions - and give us all hope for a future worth having."

Friends of the Earth's Executive Director, Andy Atkins, said:

"The Government is under huge pressure from MPs of all parties to close the loophole that leaves emissions from ships and planes out of the Climate Change Bill. Ministers must come up with a solution in the next few days."

"If the Government fails to act MPs must stick to their guns and vote to include aviation and shipping emissions in the Bill on Tuesday."

"Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK have demanded a world beating climate change law. Our politicians need have to make this happen."

Notes:

1. A Briefing on the Climate Change Bill is at: www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/climate_change_bill.pdf

The briefing includes information on

· What the Climate Change Law will do

· Next Steps - implementing the Climate Change Law

· How the Climate Change Law will affect Government policy

· How the Climate Change Law will affect our lives

· The history of the Climate Change Law and The Big Ask Campaign

· The Climate Change Law in numbers

1. Aviation and Shipping

The Committee on Climate Change - a committee of independent experts set up by the Government - advised that the 80%emissions reduction target should apply to 'the sum of all sectors in the UK, including international aviation and shipping.'

However, as it stands the Bill does not require the Government to consider how greenhouse gases emitted by aviation and shipping will grow in future years or take these emissions into account when it sets the UK's carbon budget. The budget sets out the level of greenhouse gases the UK can safely emit.

There are practical difficulties with counting the UK's share of emissions from international aviation and shipping make it difficult to include these emissions in UK's climate budgets. However it is essential that the budgets are adjusted to reflect the best available estimate of these emissions. Failing to take these emissions into account would mean that an apparent 80 per cent cut in emissions is nothing of the sort, as international aviation and shipping emissions are continuing to rise.

It has been argued that there is no internationally agreed method for counting these emissions, yet the Government already calculates reports such emissions as part of its obligations under international climate change agreements.

A briefing on international aviation and shipping emissions is available for download from http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/why_the_governments_carbon.pdf

2. Trading

The Government has removed a clause inserted by the House of Lords that would have ensured that the majority of the effort taken to meet the targets in the Bill is carried out at home. Carbon credits - bought in from other countries - can be counted towards national emissions reduction targets on the basis that it doesn't matter whether a tonne of carbon is saved in the UK or in another country.

However the Bill does not have sufficient safeguards in place to ensure that these carbon credits - essentially investments in carbon cutting projects such as wind farms overseas - are truly additional (i.e. that the projects would not have happened unless the credit had been purchased).

The ability to buy in unlimited amounts of carbon credits leaves open the possibility that the UK will fail to take the measures needed to cut emissions at home or go ahead with building highly polluting infrastructure such as airports because it can simply buy its way out of the problem. This could leave the UK "locked in" to a high carbon future rather than leading the way to a low carbon economy.

The latest science shows that rich countries such as the UK must cut their emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050 if the world is going to avoid dangerous climate change. While it is important for the UK to support low carbon development in poor countries it is no substitute for cutting emissions at home.

3. Friends of the Earth believes the environment is for everyone. We want a healthy planet and a good quality of life for all those who live on it. We inspire people to act together for a thriving environment. We campaign on a range of issues including climate change, biodiversity, waste, transport and food.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust